Erin Smith
Astoria, NY, United States
Erin Smith was diagnosed with celiac disease in the early 1980s, so she’s been eating gluten-free almost her entire life. Erin has a unique perspective of growing up in the gluten-free community and blogs about living — and enjoying — a gluten-free lifestyle.
Erin Smith has been writing her gluten-free lifestyle blog Gluten-Free Fun since 2007. In 2011, she launched Gluten-Free Globetrotter, a website that encourages those with celiac disease to travel the world and not be scared about eating gluten-free domestically and abroad. Erin is also the lead organizer of the NYC Celiac Disease Meetup group, a social community that has grown to over 1850 members in the 8 years she has been organizing the group.
http://glutenfreefun.blogspot.com
http://glutenfreeglobetrotter.comSee my complete profile

You all know I am a huge fan of both Rudi's and NFCA, so this press release is really exciting to me.

Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bakery Launches Spread the Bread Program to Benefit the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness

National coupon program supports celiac disease education for physicians through NFCA’s Continuing Medical Education program

Boulder, Colo. – Jan. 4, 2010 – Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bakery is making life brighter for families that suffer from celiac disease and gluten intolerance by giving them another way to enjoy bread again through its new line of gluten-free breads. As part of its commitment to giving back to the communities it serves, Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bakery announced today it is partnering with the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA) to increase education and diagnosis of celiac disease through a national coupon program, Spread the Bread.

Through Spread the Bread, Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bakery is proudly supporting the NFCA’s efforts to educate physicians on the diagnosis of celiac disease through its Continuing Medical Education (CME) program. NFCA teamed up with top celiac doctors nationwide to create a program that provides education for primary care physicians focused on celiac disease with the goal of improving diagnosis and management of the disease. For full accreditation information, please visit: www.CeliacCMECentral.com.

“Every year, millions of people suffer unnecessarily as a result of the lack of diagnosis of celiac disease,” said Alice Bast, Founder and President of NFCA. “Our mission is to decrease the amount of time it takes for someone to get diagnosed, improve quality of life, and with the support of companies like Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bakery, we can better reach that goal.”

For every $1 off coupon downloaded for a loaf of Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bread, Rudi’s will donate a dollar to support the NFCA’s efforts to better educate physicians in the diagnosis of celiac disease, up to $20,000. Coupons are available now on Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bakery’s website and Facebook page, and will remain available through February, or until the goal is reached.

“We created Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bakery so people with celiac disease and gluten intolerance can once again take pleasure in eating tasty and healthy breads,” said Doug Radi, vice president of marketing for Rudi’s Organic Bakery. “In addition to creating great-tasting gluten-free breads, we’re also committed to raising awareness and furthering education about celiac disease through partnerships with organizations like NFCA. The Continuing Medical Education program’s goal to teach doctors to diagnose celiac disease will greatly impact the gluten-free community.”

There are an estimated three million people in the U.S. suffering from celiac disease – that’s one in 133– yet less than 200,000 are diagnosed. Through partnerships with gluten-free organizations like NFCA, Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bakery hopes to elevate the level of education and awareness on celiac disease and gluten-intolerance, as well as the gluten-free diet, through local and national initiatives that drive hope for a better, brighter future, like the Spread the Bread program.

Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bakery breads are available nationally at natural foods stores and select mainstream supermarkets. For more information, visit http://www.rudisglutenfree.com.

About Rudi’s Organic Bakery, Inc.Rudi’s Organic Bakery, Inc., founded and headquartered in Boulder, Colo., is the only nationally available brand offering a full line of certified organic bread and baked goods. Rudi’s Organic Bakery has a long history of baking bread a better and brighter way, by using simple organic ingredients that contain no artificial ingredients, preservatives, high fructose corn syrup or trans-fat. Since 2005, Rudi’s Organic has been a part of Charter Baking Company, Inc., a portfolio company of Charterhouse Group, Inc. Rudi’s Organic is a premier organic brand with distribution throughout the U.S. in both natural foods stores and mainstream supermarkets. Founded in 1976, Rudi’s Organic offers small batch organic artisan breads, sliced sandwich breads, wide pan sandwich breads, hamburger and hot dog buns, wraps and a popular line of organic spelt breads, buns and tortillas. In July 2010, Rudi’s Organic Bakery launched a new line of natural gluten-free products under the Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bakery brand. For more information about Rudi’s Organic Bakery, visit www.rudisbakery.com.

About the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness of celiac in order to gain prompt and accurate diagnosis for those suffering, supporting the health and wellbeing of those with the disease, and facilitating research that will better understand the disorder and find a cure. Visit www.celiaccentral.org for information.